A $9.575 million gift from the William A. Brookshire Foundation will establish the William A. Brookshire ROTC Scholarship, support the new LSU Construction & Advanced Manufacturing Building, and strengthen the LSU College of Engineering’s S&B Engineers and Constructors Scholarship, LSU’s Future Scholars Program and the William A. Brookshire Veterans Law Clinic.

The Brookshire Foundation’s longstanding investments in LSU continue the legacy of the late William Alfred “Bill” Brookshire, Ph.D., who earned master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from LSU after becoming the first in his family to earn a high school diploma. Six years after completing his Ph.D., Brookshire invested his life savings of $7,000 and borrowed an additional $3,000 to start S&B Engineers and Constructors with James Slaughter Sr. The business has since grown to thousands of employees globally. Brookshire was inducted into LSU’s College of Engineering Hall of Distinction in 2013 for his significant contributions to the engineering profession and was recognized posthumously as part of the LSU Alumni Association’s 2024 Hall of Distinction.

“Our foundation’s growing partnership with LSU honors our father’s appreciation for the life-changing impact of his LSU education,” Dr. Brookshire’s family shared. “He was deeply committed to providing a superior educational experience for students who are motivated and ambitious but need financial support to achieve their aspirations, just as he experienced. Throughout his life, he also felt great appreciation for those who choose to serve our country through the military. This gift continues our support of LSU initiatives that are intertwined with the priorities he held so dear.”

S&B Engineers and Constructors Scholarship

Six million dollars of the gift will expand the S&B Engineers and Constructors Scholarship. Since it was established in 2010 by Dr. Brookshire, the scholarship has impacted more than 2,000 College of Engineering juniors and seniors. Students who maintain a combined coursework and employment workload of at least 30 hours and a grade point average of at least 2.5 are eligible to apply. S&B Scholars have consistently achieved a 97 percent graduation rate, exceeding the university’s overall graduation rates. This dedicated financial support is transformative for students; S&B scholar Malana Fuentes’ story is one of thousands of examples of how scholarship funding creates a pathway for achieving educational and career aspirations.

Construction & Advanced Manufacturing Building
The gift includes $2 million in support for the new Construction & Advanced Manufacturing Building, announced last fall. This $107 million building aims to position LSU's Bert S. Turner Department of Construction Management – one of the top construction management programs in the U.S. – as a world-class leader in the field. The new building will provide additional lab and faculty spaces, increase capacity for advanced manufacturing and machining, and support research to address construction challenges. Slated for location on South Stadium Drive, across from Tiger Stadium, the building will also free up space in existing facilities for growth in allied engineering departments. Donors have contributed more than $37.9 million to date, with the State of Louisiana approving $32 million in capital outlay funds during the 2024 Legislative Session.

Future Scholars Program

Building upon its initial gift in 2022, the Brookshire Foundation has dedicated $975,000 to the LSU Future Scholars Program. The scholarship and mentorship program, which the Brookshire Foundation was part of launching, is creating a college pathway for hundreds of children enrolled in public schools in East Baton Rouge Parish. LSU is forming cohorts of local middle and high school students, starting in seventh grade, to receive dedicated resources, mentorship and other support spanning their college experience and extending to a cohort of doctoral students. The first cohort of LSU Future Scholars is in their freshman year now. They entered LSU with an average GPA of 3.6, and 84 percent are first-generation college students.

William A. Brookshire ROTC Scholarship

The Brookshire Foundation’s gift includes $400,000 to establish the William A. Brookshire ROTC Scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded to students participating in LSU’s Air Force and Army ROTC programs, housed within the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, and through its cross-enrollment partnership with the Navy ROTC Program at Southern University. LSU’s Corps of Cadets dates to the university’s founding in 1860. Today, participants in these leadership development programs earn four-year college degrees while meeting the requirements to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Armed Forces upon graduation.

William A. Brookshire Veterans Law Clinic

The LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center established the William A. Brookshire Veterans Law Clinic through a gift made by the Brookshire Foundation in 2022 and inspired LSU Law graduate Brock McKiness, who was in law school at the time. McKiness, an Army combat veteran, was president of the Veterans Advocacy Club and brought forward the idea of creating a veterans-focused law clinic at LSU. The new gift includes $200,000 in funding to continue the clinic’s impact in providing no-cost legal services and support to active members or veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, Reserves or National Guards. The Brookshire Veterans Law Clinic, in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, meets the legal needs of veterans who are appealing their claims before the federal Board of Veterans’ Appeals. In doing so, the clinic also provides invaluable experiential learning to LSU Law students under the careful guidance of seasoned faculty.

LSU President William F. Tate IV stated, “We are grateful to the Brookshire family for their continued support of LSU and their commitment to the Scholarship First agenda. Their generosity is transforming the lives of our students and strengthening Louisiana. We are honored to uphold Dr. Brookshire’s legacy, which exemplifies the power of philanthropy in uniting bold, results-driven goals with strategic financial investment—helping to protect and secure the future of Louisiana and its greatest asset: its people.”

The Brookshire family’s transformative philanthropic support of LSU spans two decades of generosity, including the aforementioned initiatives and gifts to create scholarships and graduate assistantships, provide emergency funding to students experiencing crises and bring the College of Engineering’s nation-leading Patrick F. Taylor Hall facilities to life. The family also made leadership gifts to the LSU William A. Brookshire Military & Veterans Student Center, which is dedicated to helping veterans, service members, dependents and survivors succeed in higher education, and to establish the William A. Brookshire LSU Military Museum, completed as part of renovations to LSU’s Memorial Tower.

The Brookshire Foundation’s latest investment in LSU builds upon the family’s support of signature initiatives with proven success and will catalyze new initiatives with similarly promising potential for life-changing impact, further advancing key priorities of LSU’s Scholarship First Agenda.